Mass Effect: Juggernaut
by Janie Cortes
Summary: Shepard was a strong, kind and an astoundingly beautiful woman; these were Tali's first thoughts when they met. The word Juggernaut soon started to spread, the human race started to think of Shepard as an unstoppable force, but she was not beyond fear or doubt. Of this, Tali would find out in the long run. [FemShep/Tali] - 07/14/17 - Updating first chapters.
1. P - I

Shepard had to take every single step with care and discretion now that she, Tali and Kaidan were currently crawling around the ship through the main emergency tunnel of the Normandy.

Knowing exactly what she was going to do to her evil clone once she found her, Shepard continued the route around the ship. With each knee moving forward, her hip's weight shifting in a circular motion, and adding the fact she was wearing no armor apart from the nanosuit, which was currently hugging up her body like latex, and the result was perhaps one of the most alluring curves both Tali and Kaidan have ever seen in their lives.

The two of them had to take a moment and look at her hips shift a few more times over, that is until Shepard had finally stopped on her steps and turned her head around to check up on how far her team was from her.

Just as she did, both diverted their gazes away as quickly as they could and instead focused their attention on the shadows of the enemy crew.

"W-We best be careful, we can't let the other Shepard know we're here." said Alenko frantically as he aimed his gun upwards.

"Agreed, yes..." followed Tali who had literally no other thing in her mind right in that moment but the way the suit favored Shepard's body.

She then realized she did not have to fantasize about anything like Alenko. Unlike him, she had managed to slip her fingers around Shepard's curves in more than just a single occasion.

" _Keelah..._ " Tali murmured as her imagination started to run even wilder the more she thought of her time together with Shepard. The only thing that stopped her mind from going further into the gutter was the ship's engines kicking in, finally bringing her mind back to business.

"Right... but had you told me this morning that a toothbrush would save the Normandy, I'd have been very skeptical." mentioned Shepard out of nowhere, as if trying to clear their heads.

"Let's keep moving, we're nearly there"

In truth, she was aware of their glares the moment they entered the escape tunnel, and this only enticed her to add some more spice to her movements for the remaining meters before they reached the end of the route.

A win-win scenario according to her book.

* * *

Not a moment too soon after they reached the main escape gate located in the CiC room, all hell broke loose, not that such expression was overrated. Literally exploding the emergency gates from the inside out, Shepard's team made little work of the first bunch of mercs with the debris of the metallic gate alone. Before the enemy could even figure out where the explosion had come from, Tali and Shepard followed to get rid of the remaining few, except for the most armored of the merc group, which was Kaidan's job to finish. A single shot fired by his high-caliber rifle right on the merc's neck, where no armor could protect it no matter how thick it was, was all it took to finish the skirmish and retake control of the room.

"Clear!" shouted Tali from the other side of the room after doing a small recon of all nearby routes.

"Can we hook up EDI back into the Normandy?" Shepard asked through the com.

"None of that will matter unless we take full control of the ship again, Commander." advised then Alenko who was just aside of her, guarding her six. "I suggest we first get rid of the pilots."

"But then who will fly the Normandy—" argued Tali before coming to a stop on her own. She did not have to be in front of them to know what Shepard was thinking. "No, no, no, no—no way. Joker will kill me!"

Shepard on the other hand was already making her way to her at that point, who was just a few rooms ahead, and as Tali listened to her footsteps coming closer, she quickly entered a state of panic. "You can't order me to do this, Shepard!"

So she complained, but it did not stop Shepard from continuing her way until she was standing right in front of her, with those sympathetic, dreamy eyes of hers that reflected the quarian she genuinely love as both hands travelled from Tali's fingertips all the way up to her shoulders.

One last time, Tali attempted to stand her ground against such heart melting actions done by the woman she loved. "... You can't... um..."

However, it is hard to hold your head high when your back is against the wall, and your legs are threatening to give out all of their strength.

Shepard was cruel for using such tactics.

* * *

"The clone and agent Brooks are at the Cargo bay, please be careful."

Shepard nodded as she swapped her weapons for the merc's, reloading and picking whatever ammunition she needed. "Shepard... what exactly did you do to convince her?"

Shepard tilted her head over to him with a mischievous smirk over her lips as she changed the last clip.

"Let's keep moving, Lieutenant."

"Right. Sorry, Commander." gulped down Kaidan before picking up the pace, following Shepard from behind with a loud cough as if trying to shove the awkward atmosphere aside.

* * *

 _A few minutes later…_

"Contact!" screamed a merc near the cargo bay door before he was put down by Kaidan, finally revealing of their approach to both the clone and Brooks who immediately made their way to the other end of the room, finding cover behind the ship's containers.

"Well, who would have thought? I knew I should have closed down the remaining entrance connecting the Normandy to the dock!" taunted the clone as she nodded to all six mercs hiding behind the cargo besides her.

"The price of getting cocky..." yelled Shepard out loud as she did the same gesture to Alenko, unbeknownst to her of course, and activated her omni-blade as she noticed the foot of one merc standing out from his hideout. "...but then again, you've never been out in the field before, have you?"

"I'll show you...!"

Enraged, the clone stepped out of her cover and started shooting at random before hiding behind the containers again, only managing to tell Shepard where she was located, rather than doing any significant damage to the place.

Shepard waited until the clone finished her scandal, and then pulled out her new gun, accurately shooting the merc's foot. The merc, now on his knees and groaning in pain, turned his head over only to witness how Shepard's blade pierced his left axilla, ending his life on the spot.

Kaidan did the second shot by pointing his rifle against the nearest container and repeating the same thing they did on the CiC, killing the merc hiding on the other end of the container with the debris.

Four now remained, and the clone and Brooks finally started to shoot know that they were well aware of their location.

The skirmish had begun.

"Commander, I'll cover you!" shouted Kaidan as he returned fired with his rifle, the aim was not to outright kill them but to keep them under cover while Shepard did the same procedure of before to end the mercs on her side. One died by a perfect shot to his head, while another merc plummeted to the floor after having his inner thigh shot, incapacitating him from the fight due the pain. The third one was collateral damage as the clone shot him in hopes of getting Shepard, and she nearly did if not for Shepard's biotic shields.

Muttering a curse, the clone hid again, clearly underestimating her opponent.

Up until that moment, the clone had forgotten about a very critical detail; she was fighting Chrisa J. Shepard, the human Juggernaut.

* * *

"Hands where I can see them!" the merc ordered with the most menacing tone he could muster, pointing his gun against Tali's head.

Tali did as she was ordered and assessed the situation as she turned her head gently around, letting her helmet do the rest as the mercs argued with one another.

"Shit, what are we going to tell the clone?" stormed a merc just a few feet behind the _menacing_ boss of them all. Her helmet was perhaps not as useful as an omni-tool, but its job was not an all-around to start with.

"We don't. Nothing happened here, got it?"

With such outfits coming between them and the world, the last thing Quarians wanted to be was blind, no matter the situation or environment.

"This isn't worth the money—!"

Tali then did little work of the ship's main interface using her helmet, and with the mercs sidetracked by their argument, it was easy for her to turn the ship's cockpit lights off.

* * *

Spontaneously then, the ship started to jerk and quickly rose up to the skies, its speed doubling in seconds, just barely avoiding the traffic of vehicles and tall buildings as it flew without any real sense of direction.

* * *

 _Back inside the cargo bay…_

Kaidan was able to kill the last merc just before the ship movements became too wild to have a proper foothold. Having to constantly switching his weight between one side of a nearby container to the next, Kaidan had to also avoid both the falling cargo and corpses the gravity was pulling

Thankfully, the ship never did turn itself upside down.

"Damn it. Bridge what the hell are you doing?!" screamed out the clone through the com just as she did her best to counter Shepard's moves.

"Bridge's been compromised!" shouted Brooks in response as she barely took a hold from one of the belts that kept the cargo attached to the floor, losing her pistol in the process. "We're on our own now—!"

The ship did then a quick turn and brought Brook's body back to the right side of the ship, but also twisting her wrist around the belt, dislocating it.

Almost in cue, Kaidan showed up from behind and pointed his gun against her back. He was just about to demand her surrender when he realized of her injury when Brooks hurriedly tried to grab for the weapon that had fallen from her hand, only to have his rifle pointing at the back of her head once she took a hold of it.

"Drop it." He commanded with a voice nearly full of pity. "Don't make it harder on yourself."

Brooks threw her gun off her reach, hissing as she admitted defeat.

"Clear—!" exclaimed Alenko before the ship's gravity had him jump a couple of feet up in the air, then slamming him back against the floor just as quickly as he had risen.

* * *

The ship had hit a building with enough strength to disrupt its balance one last time; this actually helped Tali get rid of the last of the five mercs on the cockpit by throwing his body against the edge of the metallic doorframe, knocking him unconscious despite wearing a helmet.

"Huh."

Tali shrugged as she took control of the Normandy once again, bringing stability back to the ship, not noticing the alarm ringing on one of the nearby panels, warning her the pilot was flying with the cargo bay door open

* * *

The bump that a nearby building had given to the Normandy's belly was enough to send nearly everyone but Brooks, who was still stuck on the container's restrainting belt, against the ship's back door. To the clone's fortune, this had actually saved her life, as Shepard was ready to slice her to pieces merely a few moments ago.

She quickly stood up and turned her omni-blade again, now fully ready to take the offensive. Shepard only smiled at this, as the resolve of the clone filled the whole conflict with irony.

Was her way of life truly enviable?

The ship took a final swift turn, finally balancing it back to its proper angle. However, as it did, the back door opened, letting everything that had remained against it to fall to the abyss of the Citadel. Guns, small and impossibly large containers as well as corpses fell off, and nearly did Kaidan as well if he had not grabbed from Maya's leg in time.

Those who were not so lucky was the clone and Shepard, who had just barely managed to hold themselves from the edge of the back door, their bodies threatening to fly off at the speed of the ship. Kaidan didn't waste any time and rose up to his feet, rushing to Shepard's aid.

The clone only glared, as despite everything, Shepard seemed to have been superior to her in every sense of the word. The sense of defeat grew stronger as she looked back to Maya who did not even seem to struggle with her restraint in an attempt to rescue her.

Things could not be clearer for her, and only one thing remained to be done.

"Give me your hand, come on!" shouted Shepard as to be heard just as she reached out to the clone.

Hesitant, the clone deemed it a trap and it only rubbed further amounts of salt to the injury. The enemy was taking pity of her.

"And then, what?!" so she replied, her fingers slowly slipping from their grip the more time she spent hanging on the ship's edge.

"And then you live!"

The clone bit her lip, not believing her words. "For what?!"

As she readied herself to fully let go and end her pathetic existence, she saw Shepard's expression change from someone who was worried and tired to someone who was angry and ready to burst out.

"You selfish—you think you have any right to choose when to give up?!" she muttered under her breath, quickly making use of her biotics to bring the clone back to safe ground, only to throw her out against a nearby container.

Shepard had finally lost it, her hands formed into fists as she walked to the clone and punched her face with her dominant hand first as she held her body with the other so as to hit her again and again as she screamed to the top of her lungs.

"You are not supposed to feel anything... You are not supposed to waver even once when in front of the enemy! You charge and hope for the best. Earth is counting on you, the whole galaxy is counting on your name, and all you want to do is give up when the chances are against you?!"

She raised the clone up to the sky again with her powers, and slammed her entire body against the floor, making a hollow sound echo through the entire room.

"... You already lost the right to give up the moment you declared yourself Commander Shepard!"

Shepard's rant continued, and though she stopped hitting her after blood started to ooze from more than just her mouth and nose, Shepard locked her in position by sitting on top of her chest.

"The moment you give up...!" Shepard gritted her teeth together as she faced her own weaknesses, and being practically yelling at a past version of herself, soon her eyes started to water. "… The moment you give up... nothing but ruins will remain from the life we know."

Though the clone could do little but to hurt of the pain on her entire body, she witnessed how Shepard slowly rested her head on top of her shoulder, her breathing became short and not a moment later, Sheppard sobbed against her armor, dulling her voice.

At this point, Kaidan had already helped Brooks out, knowing fully well when _not_ to interrupt Shepard. Though he still heard her ranting, he could not bring himself to blame her for it.

The entire galaxy was depending on her, he was depending on her, and she had just watched herself admit defeat like it was the easiest thing in the world, clone or not.

* * *

The minutes Kaidan spent applying the med-gel on the clone's wounds, and helping Maya out with what little knowledge of human anatomy he had, were done in silence. It was only until both the clone Brooks were back on their feet that Shepard called out for the traitor.

"Maya Brooks..."

The woman flinched and straightened her back, looking with as much confidence as she could muster after such an embarrassing defeat.

"Don't pretend you didn't like the glares when they happened, Commander."

Shepard, who was just a few minutes ago crying her heart out, did not want to prolong things further. "Princess, I prefer it when I'm not trying to be killed by the same person that keeps eating me up with those pretty eyes."

Seeing her response had backfired, Maya tried to come up with the best snorting noise she could think of before responding with arrogance. "You honestly thought that I—"

"Enough, Maya. She won." interrupted the clone, her eyes looking down in defeat but also in remorse for having showed such weakness in front of her opponent despite all of her big talk.

"Shepard, what should we do with them?" called out Tali through the com, having heard everything until now, but barely understanding how the current outcome had come to be.

"She's Shepard's... I mean, she's... well, it's _her_ call." Kaidan struggled, unsure on how to differentiate Shepard from her clone for Tali, when both were practically the same person despite the different appearances.

The clone, finally giving up on doing anything else, raised her head up again and approached Brooks, giving her a cold stare before her eyes softened up and turned around to face Shepard and Alenko once again.

"She may be a flirting cunt, but she did pull me out of the fish tank I was kept in. She stays with me until the end."

Taken back once again, Maya tried her best to counter the clone's claim. "… But that's not your call!"

"Should have thought it twice then when you released me from my sleep, besides she's telling the truth about you. You really are eating us up with those eyes that just don't know where to look."

Having watched and heard how Shepard and her clone interacted with one another, Kaidan could not keep his mind to himself and commented about their banter with Tali. "... You know, this might be a bit too soon, but I think they're not that different from one another."

"Oh, please." responded both Shepards systematically, much to their surprise.

Shepard gave up, in any given moment she was going to say something she would regret or doubt the decision of letting the clone free.

She was about to make her way out of the room when the clone quickly spoke out loud the one thing that had been bugging her since she realized who she was supposed to be.

"Wait... You told me that I—that _we_ cannot give up, or the galaxy will be in ruins. But what exactly is keeping me from trying to kill you again?"

To this, Shepard tilted her head back around and shrugged in her response.

"I don't know, but even without my current memories I don't think I've ever been the type of woman that would backstab someone who bullied some reason into me."

The clone gave out a smile, which, had Alenko not known she was not the real Shepard, it would have made his heart skip a beat

"Judy."

Spoke the clone impulsively, repeating the name once more to let it sink in.

"Call me Judy. If I'm going to stick around with you I don't want people to remind me I'm not who I believed I could be."

"Judy Shepard..." Shepard repeated the name as though she too was trying to make it sink, not really used to the idea of someone who looked just liked to declare her singularity.

"Kind of an odd ring to it, doesn't it?"

"Well, it damn sure beats Chrisa, _doesn't it_?" replied Judy with a sass not often heard from a Shepard.

Both women glared at one another with venom in their eyes, and only came to a stop after feeling the Normandy landing back into its private docks with clumsiness. Courtesy of Tali, cutting their apparent natural rivalry short.

"... Let's just wrap this up. Tali, come to the main gate, we're done here."

"Yes, Commander."

* * *

Explaining to Tali what had transpired and how was it that either Brooks or Shepard's evil clone were in cuffs, and were now currently standing on each side of the real Shepard, was a hassle.

A simple _it just happened_ comment, coming from Kaidan, was enough to tell her it was complicated, not that it wasn't when they first started the day.

If that wasn't enough, as soon as the Normandy's cargo gate opened to the outside once again, the first thing the new group noticed was Shepard's full crew now gathered around the ship, contemplating the fact there were now two Shepards coming from the ship like it was the most common thing in the world.

"First off..." started off Joker from among the crew, standing up in front of the rest with EDI's helping hand.

"You best give us a damn good reason why there are still two of you, Commander. Not to mention you still haven't apologized for using me as bait!"

"Well this will be good. Shall we, Ms. Brooks?" said Judy with an inviting hand and a raised eyebrow as if to tease her up.

Maya had to take a moment then and breathe deeply before taking her hand and walk down the ship.

She also had to admit this was beyond what they expected, and in truth she was genuinely relieved with how things had turned out to this point, now it was only a matter of Shepard convincing the rest of the crew to not shoot at them, especially EDI who seemed to be waiting the order.

"W-Wait, Shepard." hesitantly, Tali placed her hand over Shepard's shoulder as she called her over, preventing her from setting a foot off the ship after Kaidan, and though the helmet concealed her face, Shepard quickly noticed her concern.

"I'm fine, Tali."

"Like hell you are. Please, don't push me away on this matter."

Seeing how such answer wouldn't make her worry disappear, Shepard made sure to keep her back against her crew's point of view so only Tali could see just how much of a toll that whole ordeal just put her through.

"... What do you want me to say?"

"That you're not alright. It's this stupid war, Shepard. They keep shoving this responsibility to you, and they never bother to think that the woman, who keep saving the galaxy from itself, has had enough of playing hero for a lifetime." Tali's voice continued to break down, her hands travelling around Shepard's face.

Moreover, she was right. Shepard was tired in every sense of the word, and only but a handful of her crew knew that.

"… You surely jest, the only thing I've is an ungrateful council who can't even say thanks and now wants me to save their skin along with their planets, again."

"No, Shepard." Tali enforced with a saddened voice. "You saved so much more than that. Not just colonies, but entire worlds would have been decimated if not for you. You have saved billions of people already. Hell, you even gave my entire race a place to call their homeworld again." murmured Tali as Shepard embraced her, resting her arms on top of the quarian's shoulders.

"And yet, for every day that passes we lose a few billion more."

"Shepard..."

There was only so much Tali could do on her own, and she was painfully aware of that.

"The people I'm mostly worried about are my crew, and you... especially you."

Shepard said those words with so much warmth and sentiment, Tali could swear she would cry if things kept their course, but before she could allow herself to be guided by the current, Tali had to take something off her chest.

"... and your clone?"

Shepard took a few moments longer, finally managing to calm down and showing to the first genuine smile to her after a very long week. "Well, it shouldn't be such big of a burden if there are two of me now, right?"

Tali then giggled, she was relieved that Shepard was back to her old-self once again, and deemed it enough, for now.

"D-Don't..." Her body jiggled, following the rhythm of her increasing laughter, despite her best attempts to keep the matter at hand relevant. "We were discussing a serious topic here, you know?"

Finally ready to face off the rest of the day head-on, Shepard let go of Tali after planting a small kiss over her helmet. " _I_ should go; I still owe Joker an apology."


	2. I - II

Shepard was just no good with politicians. Not that she did not understand them; she was not interested in their agenda.

Becoming a Spectre, standing side-by-side with Nihlus, one of the top soldiers in the entire galaxy along with Saren; that was the original idea.

If only.

Nihlus was dead, and the Council was nearly blaming Shepard for it, but thanks to her accomplishments, and the puppy-eyes Ambassador Udina was doing to the council, Shepard became a Spectre.

It was not as though she had earned it, quite the contrary the council clearly stated the promotion should be enough to pull them off Spectre Saren's back, and this proved to be more than enough for Udina and Anderson.

She truly did not get it, how they simply so easily backed away from it all.

In a sense though, they were right.

The press conference she had a short while ago at the Presidium, proved humanity had taken its first step towards settling in alongside the Council, and soon would have a saying in the events across the galaxy.

Though clearly, many were conflicted about this sudden announcement, many also would show more trust to humanity as a whole, if only a bit.

Having had enough of it all, Shepard escaped from the conference as soon as Anderson had taken the podium, answering any question the press might have had about Shepard.

Her outfit did not help her blend in with the crowds, all the same.

Just escaping a formal event, Shepard was dressed in fancy white bell-cut pants, sleeveless turtleneck blouse, and beautiful, golden earring, first belonging to her mother.

Hannah Shepard would have been proud of her daughter and her current looks, if not for the fact she was wearing military boots beneath the cut of her pants.

* * *

With the title of Spectre, many responsibilities arose, especially now that she was the face of the entire human race, practically being part of a group that solved the problems of the galaxy with gunfire.

Nevertheless, such over-the-top tasks were not her priority now, nor she would make them even if the Council called out and immediately sent her on a mission.

She needed some time for herself, and the best way to do so is to lose herself in the streets of the Citadel, something she was a master of, seeing how she woke up from her thoughts only to find herself in the middle of one the most populated markets of the wards.

Shepard immediately decided she would walk a few miles longer, then report to the Normandy and look out for a certain quarian's whereabouts.

Moreover, according to the information she got from Garrus and Wrex, the intel he or she had on Saren was enough to put a bounty on the quarian's head.

* * *

Being lost is perhaps one of the most embarrassing things that could happen to a quarian, but to her defense, the Citadel put every single ship on the galaxy to shame, as it spanned as far and wide as the naked eye could see.

In addition, she realized just how quickly a ridiculous amount of people could pop out seemingly from every corner of the city. Apparently, the council had chosen the first human Spectre in history. Many of the crowd both cheered and ranted about this, with many claiming the council was nothing but a bunch of incompetent fool for trusting a human.

For every one that said this though, other people claimed this proved humanity to be trustworthy, for the meantime. Tali, however, was interested in none of it, and continue her way through the crowds around the market with bags containing canned food on each hand.

* * *

Right now, her objective was to find the place her contact would meet her at, so she could share the information she had of Saren with him and be of service to the galaxy.

But very few people had actually seen a quarian before in their lives, let alone one with a suit so ragged up it looked like she was panhandling for credits. She could not blame them; the only credits she had left were about enough to last her for a week, and that is if she purchased canned food only.

Her situation was dire, and her condition showed it. If she did not find her contact in time, she would need to postpone her research and find a job in the Citadel instead.

Tali muttered under her breath, completely exhausted of the amount of people she just bumped into in order to get to the exit of the second to last market of the ward.

She had taken a moment's rest on a nearby bench, and was about to stand up back to her feet, when Tali could have sworn to have felt as though one of the bags had ripped in half.

Soon, many of her cans came to her field of vision as they rolled under and between the people. Obviously in panic, Tali quickly rushed in the way of the public, hoping to recover her as many cans as possible before they were kicked off her line of sight by the unknown passing by or the jerk.

Keeping her own thoughts in mind, of how pitiful she must look to the other races, Tali was about to make her way to the bench, when suddenly her eyes fell on a particular woman, not far from where she stood, lying down on her knees and reaching out to a nearby container.

The woman soon pulled two cans from under it and got up on her feet, seemingly searching for the owner of it.

Tali was about to run over to her and thank her, when she then realized the woman who had been so kind to even notice her little incident, was a human.

She had little time to think things through however as the woman's eyes had already fallen on the quarian nervously holding a dozen cans against her chest, and was now making her way to her with a wide smile on her face.

* * *

The Citadel was a tidy place but it was not without its details, especially beneath the things one never moves once they are put on a nearby corner.

Thankfully, she was used to it. Shepard did not mind to dirty her clothes, no matter how fancy they were.

And unlike most people, that seemed to have disregard the quarian as a beggar as she awkwardly stood in everybody's way, Shepard could not turn her back on those in need, especially one with such a kind soul.

* * *

The woman turned out to be taller than most she had seen on the Citadel. The difference in their height was as clear as day as her broad, visibly strong shoulders rose up just above Tali's head.

Without spouting a word, the woman took both hands in one hand and casually handed them over to the young quarian. Her delicate, seemingly discreet approach made Tali focus her entire being on her.

"T-Thanks." Tali muttered awkwardly as she reached out to the cans, still on the human's possession, ready for any act of betrayal from her part. The human tried nothing however, and instead smiled to her brightly as she dragged both hands through her body, tiding herself up once again.

It was then when Tali caught notice of the dirt of the woman's legs and arms.

"Oh, Keelah! I'm so sorry, ma'am, you didn't have to—" but Tali stopped.

Her eyes had fallen on the woman's facial structure, the glimmer of her eyes and the genuinely kind smile of her lips as she brushed her hair to aside.

And though the physiology in their races was completely different, some characteristics, the ones that made Tali blush behind her visor, remained almost unchanged between them.

"Yes...?" asked the woman with a voice more appealing than Tali would have given her credit for at first, flustering the quarian even further.

* * *

Only a few minutes had passed since both the quarian and the human had met one another, and already had the woman told her to wait at the bench, only for her to run towards a nearby shop.

Tali found no way of saying no, and waited for her return as patiently and nervously as she could. Though the woman's clear beauty had taken her back, Tali well understood humans were hostile people on the long run.

Well aware of this however, Tali waited for ten good minutes before watching the woman so casually walk out of the shop with more than a few bags of her own, and before she could even greet her again, the woman then took her bags away without her consent.

"… hey!" Tali cried angrily now, doing her best to take her property back, only to be given the bags the woman had just brought with her.

Confused, Tali looked at the woman with suspicious before finally giving in, taking the bags she was offered.

In them, there was food. Not just any type of food; it was quarian-compatible food of quality above what she could afford on her own, along with less than two dozens of turian meals, the second most compatible type for her race.

"I can't take this, it's too much…!" so was Tali trying to say, but again something else interrupted her. This time it was her omni-tool notifying her of a 7,000 credits transfer given to her device.

Things were happening so quickly, she was given so much already that now it was getting fishy. "Wait! I didn't—I'm not looking for charity, okay?"

Yet despite this reprimand, the woman never stopped smiling as she spoke out what was on her mind.

"Well, I didn't mean anything wrong by it. I just don't see the whole point of holding your head high when you're in clear need of someone."

Tali was unable to come up with something to even counter what this woman was doing. Here was a human, helping her more than anyone else had in the Citadel without apparently wanting anything in return, and she was scolding her for it.

She turned her head back to the bags, filled with so much exquisite food it made her slightly drool.

"Is it... really alright for me to have it? You don't even know me, and I'm a quarian..."

"So... you don't like getting help from a human?"

"That's not what I meant…!" the woman's voice had come out with such concern Tali replied automatically to her. It was then when Tali had finally admitted defeat, letting her helmet and head, rest on top of her chest in an attempt to process everything that was done for her.

She felt so childish she opted for letting her body fall back on the bench, bringing her hands over her head, thinking her words more carefully now the more she spoke. "I'm sorry, ma'am. It's been some... very stressful weeks now."

The woman waited out a few minutes before she reached out to one of the bags took from it a small bottle with a straw, handing over to Tali by poking her thigh with it.

And though Tali had taken it on her hands, she remained still, hiding her face with her legs now high up on the bench, drinking from the bottle in this small space of comfort.

"My mother once told me…" whispered the woman on her knees.

"… Stress can come from many places, and one of the things that helped her out was to have a drink with someone close to her, and cheer for the path she had yet to see through."

Though she was hesitant at first, Tali shyly spread her legs apart and removed her hands from her visor; shifting her thumbs together, muttering loud enough so only the human in front of her could listen. "... My mother told me something similar. She said to reach out to my loved ones for every time I wrecked my head over something, or someone."

Then, there was silence. They had found common ground, and suddenly Tali did not feel a single shred of doubt that the woman in front of her was being generous from the bottom of her heart. She smiled, knowing no one can see a quarian's face through their helmet.

"So what brought a quarian like you to a place like this?"


	3. I - III

_***I want to believe quarians detect smells different to humans. For example, coconuts perfume would smell like chocolate for the quarians.**_

* * *

With a succulent paste drink in her hand, it was easy for Tali to escape such an embarrassing situation. To think the place she was desperately trying to get out from not too long ago was the Silversun Strip, a place for commercial and recreational purposes; not exactly a place you can just walk in without knowing the flow of the people and that you possess the money to do so.

Rather, the place she had to head over to was the other way around, and the woman, who had introduced herself as Chrisa, offered to walk her over to her destination.

But the atmosphere was awkward after their introductions, at least for Tali who's only excuse to not start a conversation was bottle she was drinking, sucking it dry before she'd even noticed. Before she could reach to her third bottle though, Tali decided finally she had had enough of her own attitude.

She had to get it together, her benefactor had gone as far as leading her to the right direction and she was just ignoring her.

Tali took a better look at herself and her situation; a mere young quarian in her pilgrimage, not able to say even a word of gratitude. Shepard's looks did not help the matter either, and though Tali's suit did not allow her to smell many things, she could certainly smell the woman's mild perfume as the two walked together around the streets.

It only took a quick guess of what she smelled like when their shoulders pressed with one another as the crowd of people increased in size. Turian chocolate.*

After taking a couple of more deep breaths, whether to smell this sweet scent of hers a bit more or to calm her nerves down, Tali cleared her throat as she gracelessly directed her eyes to the woman next to her.

"H-Hey. Listen, Chrisa—I never got to—"

"Are you on your own?" Shepard interrupted, though she immediately bowed her head gently in apology.

"… come again?"

Shepard's voice had come out more rash than before, now her instincts were telling her to be cautious.

"Yeah... is everything alright?"

"Everything's... just fine." visibly distracted, Chrisa's eyes darted to every possible direction. It was only after the two of them took another turn around the streets, and the masses of people start to dwindle down, that Tali managed to take notice of a different sound.

Though she did her best to be discreet, because she still needed to turn her head more so than others to see her sides thanks to her helmet's design, Tali noticed Shepard's hand twisting and turning her omni-tool around as discreetly as possible, the interface just barely covering half of her palm.

Though she could not make out what it said, she was sending a message to someone, and by the quickness of her fingers, it was urgent.

In fear of being caught, Tali turned her head away from Shepard's back; her heart feeling like it was beating at the back of her throat as she started to lose focus of her surroundings.

Whatever her instincts were telling her though, Tali refused to believe the woman next to her was actually her enemy. Those charming eyes of hers when she spoke of her mother were not a lie, neither was the kindness in her voice or her generosity towards a stranger such as her.

None of that was lie, it cannot be.

However, the more she thought about it the more her hand wanted to go over her own omni-tool and prepare for the worse.

Though it was far from deadly, her suit was equipped with an electric charge capable to shock and freeze even a geth on the spot, at least for a little while. The only downside of it is that it needed time to charge as its power source came from her suit and omni-tool itself.

She was almost hyperventilating by the time she felt a gentle hand over her shoulder, which brought her back to her senses. Tali's eyes immediately went straight to the one holding her now.

"Tali?" Chrisa had mentioned her name a third time with clear concern as the quarian had remained quiet throughout their entire walk. "We're here."

And although her voice said one thing, Tali could clearly see the indifference in the woman's eyes.

"Oh."

That was the only thing Tali could muster out to say without sounding hurt, already engaging her omni-tool to overcharge itself with the suit's power.

This woman was no different from the rest.

* * *

Worried over their exposed flanks, Shepard had a very, very hard time to be discreet. She was not the stealthy type, and whenever she readied herself for combat, her eyes always seemed to be the first to change. At least that is what her mother would often say to her.

For now however, her priority was the quarian's safety. Whether it was planned or not, Shepard was sure the ones following them were in for her head. She had to confront whoever was following them, and so far she could only count four of them as they walked against the flow of people.

After finishing sending a Morse code message to the Normandy, Shepard closed her eyes in order to take a moment to calm her nerves before looking down back to the quarian with the most genuine calmness she had left.

"I guess this is it, right?" she blurted, her voice clearly showing concern over the Tali as the quarian had already taken a few steps away from her.

Tali did not respond.

Shepard too the hint though, and let her smile finished, only leaving her sadness to show in her eyes.

Tali noticed this abrupt change and felt immediately lost.

Humans were complicated beings, their faces warped and changed in so many different shapes and forms as they tried to express their emotions on the spot.

Guilt was the next thing she felt.

Backing away from someone was a clear sign of alert and lack of trust, and her actions had clearly hurt the woman just now.

"Tali...?" Shepard carefully called out her name, unknowing what to do to make things right for whatever she might have done. "I hope... I hope you find what you're looking for in the Citadel."

Then, with the faintest of smiles, Shepard waved her off and quickly walked into the crowd, disappearing between them before Tali could even respond.

* * *

Tali froze as soon as she hit her back against a wall. She had made it; in a few minutes, she would meet her contact, deliver the evidence against Saren to the Shadowbroker and then continue her pilgrimage.

All because she received help when she most needed it. And yet, she was not able to thank this person, let alone say goodbye to her.

Though it was only for a few minutes, for the first time since she arrived to the Citadel, she was genuinely enjoying the company of someone, even if her actions showed otherwise.

For one more time, Tali took a glimpse at the content of the bags, and cried.

* * *

It only took about half an hour before someone approached her, and by then her tears were dry and Tali had composed herself for the task ahead of her. With a shady turian now approaching her, she had to be at the top of her game and earn the Shadowbroker's trust.

Immediately then, she would head out and find Shepard, and explain everything to her.

* * *

The turian was far from kind looking, in fact the proximity he tried to have with her was enough to fill her body with rage and disgust. Tali refrained herself from pushing him away, but that was only before he tried to place a hand over her helmet, and one by her hips.

Though he was stating he was on Shadow Broker's behalf, something was definitely off.

Her entire body was on full alert.

"The Shadow Broker is not coming, is he?" Tali hissed as she tilted her head away from the turian's face. The man, seeing how Tali was stealthily walking away from his approach, took her by the shoulders and shoved her back against the wall with force.

"Okay, how about we try this again, then?" the turian smirke, his eyes moving down, inspecting the curves of her body. The suit, if anything, pronounced her figure quite nicely beneath the armor.

Nevertheless, businesses were first. The turian quickly released her to operate his omni-tool, his eyes always remaining vigilant in case she tried anything against him.

Fully understanding the difference in strength, Tali didn't have to do anything, her omni-tool was already charged and ready to explode on the turian, or whoever that tried to stand in her way.

When he raised his arm over to her face, Tali was about to take the opportunity and zap him, but then her eyes fell on to his omni-tool, and a cold shiver ran through her spine at what he was showing to her.

Her heart sank as the turian showed to her a compilation of pictures of her and Shepard around the Citadel.

Tali lost all form of speech, unable to take her eyes away from the images.

"Now. You give me what I want, or I will make sure me and my buddies pay a visit to your friend. And I must say, the things we will do to a human like her once we find her..." the turian purred as his mind found itself thinking on the possibilities with such a beauty at his grasp.

The difference between their influence was now set. Her hands hurried to the back of her suit where she stored the information, but then Tali's entire body abruptly stopped.

She was about to give a stranger the information that would not only prove Saren's guilt but also information of the geth that would finish her pilgrimage. She could not do that.

Her heart was begging her to, but her head was refusing to. Not knowing what to do, she spent too much time thinking about the yay or nay the turian got tired of waiting, and opted to get the human instead.

"Alright, suit yourself." the turian gushed, and without giving her a chance to say otherwise, he raised his arm again to her to prove he was not playing around.

Everything had gone wrong, Shadow Broker had stabbed her in the back, the information chip would be lost, and Shepard would get caught right in the middle of her own problems.

She regretted everything.

* * *

Not all quarians came back from their pilgrimage, some because they preferred not to return, others because they simply did not make it. Tali knew she would soon become of the latter, there was no way the turian would let her or Shepard go even if she did hand over the information now.

But just as she was about to admit defeat, the turian's omni-tool opened an emergency broadcast with no camera feed available.

"Boss, send help—!" a man screamed through the com, but whatever he said next was overshadowed by the sound of gunshots, which also echoed not far from where they were, shocking everyone on the market.

Then there was chaos, everybody but the turian and Tali ran away as more gunshots were fired. The turian felt a cold sweat as he attempted to contact his comrades.

Just as he was about to broadcast his orders, a rifle shot echoed, followed by the agonizing scream of one of his men as the com linked to their omni-tool.

"Ratch, Hack'r, Toriah, Rodark! Damn it, anyone?"

Only one man responded, his voice coarse and desperate for air. "Boss... it's a Kro—" it was all the man was able to say before the sound of bone breaking followed.

The com remained in silence after that.

He couldn't tell what was going on, or how some of his best men were killed with such ease, but at least one of them was left, perhaps he would know what—but his brain stopped working as his ears caught the sound of a pair of boots slowly approaching the now desolated market.

The turian's blood turned to ice, his body shivered intensively as he immediately recognized the begging of a young man's voice to be the last one of his team. He did not dare to turn around though; the footsteps of whoever was climbing down the stairs of the market, followed the man's every cry for help, prevented him from doing so.

Tali did not dare to look either, for she recognized the sound of those heavy footsteps and each step it made caused her heart to sink deeper and deeper until but a few feet remained between them. It was only when the turian heard the clanking sound of armor landing on solid concrete that he pulled his gun out and took Tali from her neck, holding her at gunpoint.

Though trembling at first, Tali soon noticed the terror in the turian's face as clear as day outweighed her own, his eyes never leaving his teammate.

It was a young man, no more than twenty, and all four of his limbs were horribly beaten, and deformed. His cries of pain were barely even noticeable by now, his body entering a state of shock.

"Y-You... monster!" the turian yelped in rage, then Tali reacted to this by zapping his hip with her now overcharged omni-tool, which also affected her in the process.

Her eyes couldn't leave the turian, the sheer strength of the electricity now running through and around his body was visible to the naked eye. His blood veins burst all across, his body shaking uncontrollably along with the strong scent of burnt flesh that seeped from every single inch of skin covered with armor, making his screams all the more agonizing to listen to.

Had it not been for five quick shots that finished his suffering, he would have gone and died in unspeakable pain.

By the time his body had fallen to the ground next to her, Tali soon followed him after her own state of electrocution, though scarce in comparison. The position she fell in made it impossible avoid eye contact with the now desperately approaching woman.

* * *

Shepard's heart had stopped beating for a moment there after seeing Tali fall almost systematically with the turian.

"Tali... did you do that?" asked Shepard with a tired voice, unknowingly placing a hand over Tali's helmet.

Though she had little strength to move her arm, as most of her body was paralyzed, Tali still tried her best to return the favor, and wrapped Shepard's hand with her own.

Tali breathed out the air she was holding, relieved of the way Shepard's voice sounded around her helmet. Not only was her suit not as damaged as she was starting to wonder about, the way Shepard had called out her name was all the proof she needed about her.

The concern in her voice, the gentleness of her touch, it made her wonder how could she have feared such a wonderful person would ever harm her.


	4. I - IV

After the two had calmed down, they could not help but to enjoy this small moment on their own, yet they were again interrupted, the sirens across the streets warned them of one thing; C-Sec was approaching.

There wasn't much time, the remaining shops around Tali and Shepard closed their gates after warning the two of the Citadel's special corp, leaving the two to fend for themselves. The sirens were getting closer, and Shepard was the first to take action by attempting to pick Tali up.

"We better get going before—"

"Hands where I can see them! Don't try anything you're going to regret." screamed a C-Sec officer from the nearby stairs, two other men stood behind her, pointing their guns to the two.

Soon, another five policemen approached the scene from the other end of the street along with three more officers coming from the second and third floors of the market

"You're doing a grave mistake..." tried to grumble Tali in an attempt to stand up on her feet again, but knowing fully well the consequences of electrocution, Shepard prevented her from trying further.

"… Chrisa?"

With a polite squeeze on her shoulder, Shepard did her best to reassure her by resting her forehead against Tali's helmet, whispering to her with sweet, gentle voice. "It's okay, Tali... Let me be the one to handle this, too."

"Did you not hear what I just said? Hands in the air or we'll open fire!" hastily now, the turian's patience was clearly running low as she took the safety of her weapon off.

Shepard closed her eyes, and begged to whatever god there might be in the universe for a bit of luck. When she opened them again, and Tali felt a tremor completely different from before.

As if possessed by another being, Shepard stood out straight, puffed off her chest and turned her head aggressively to face the turian.

"You're quite the resilient woman, aren't you, Officer? You're pointing that gun to the wrong people, you know!" she stated with a tone of voice that set her as an authority figure above the officer.

Momentarily shaken, the turian quickly dismissed this sudden impression and instead humored the woman as her men closed in. "… enlighten me then, human. Why should I not be pointing my gun at you?"

Now at gunpoint from multiple angles, Shepard had little choice.

"You want answers? Fine, I'm going to give it to you..." She took another deep breath, and filled her lungs so everyone and anyone in the market could listen to her.

"… My name is Chrisa Jane Shepard, and you are trespassing a Spectre's operation!"

The officer snorted, not believing her lying mouth. "Spectre. A human! Like we would believe such—" but the turian had to pause for a moment, and think. There was a resemblance to the woman she had seen in the news before, and the more she looked at the self-proclaimed Spectre the truer seemed to be her words. "—wait, you couldn't be—no, it cannot. Who are you?."

"You don't believe me, fine. You can have my credentials if you want." Shepard declared before activating her omni-tool, quickly transferring her military credentials to the turian officer.

"Just know this, you keep pointing that weapon at me and you are begging for trouble with the council. Forget about just getting fired of C-Sec, you'll be the laughing stock of Palaven once I'm done with you."

Now nearly frightened by her words, the Officer ran a sweat down her forehead as she received Shepard's ID, solely reading the starting line to find out the truth.

 _Spectre Chrisa J. Shepard - N7 Special Unit no. 5923-AC-2826_

"Quick, lower your weapons!" the C-Sec officer shouted in a hurry, holstering her weapon before straightening her back and earnestly salute the Spectre. "I'm so sorry ma'am, I did not recognize you—"

Shepard raised her hand, before the rest of the officer's squad saluted her the same way. "It's okay officer, I know you're only doing your job."

"Lieutenant, we've found three other bodies around the market, we'll keep our eyes open for any other casualties." informed a C-Sec scout through the Officer's open com, tensing the atmosphere even further.

Doubtful on how to put it, the Officer took a moment to pick her words. "... Would it be too much to ask for an explanation, ma'am? I understand a Spectre's businesses are highly confidential—"

This time, Shepard breathed out in disbelief, the kind of special, cautious treatment she was receiving was not something she was used to.

Nevertheless, the officer's 180º attitude change was far too stiff for her to ignore her petition.

"I'll do my best to be as detailed and brief as possible. That shoulder lower the amount of paperwork, right?"

"That would be... considerate of you, yes."

* * *

Perhaps that odd sensation in Shepard's stomach came with standing at the pinnacle of military command.

Tali could not believe it.

Never in her life or in the time of the council had a human ever managed to become a Spectre, yet there was one woman declaring herself as one. And Despite how crazy it sounded, she couldn't say it was impossible to believe in, either.

It did not take them long to discuss the situation and the turn of events. Not even ten minutes had passed and already was the C-Sec Officer shaking hands with Shepard as if it was an honor.

"Thank you ma'am, we'll take care of things from here on out."

But just as the Officer was about to turn around and leave, her eyes fell on Tali, whom, according to the public gossip, was making deals with the criminals now dead on the floor.

"Just one final question... what will happen with the quarian?"

Shepard, for once, didn't know how to put it. If she left Tali on her own, they would very likely interrogate her thoroughly, and C-Sec wasn't known for being nice with potential criminals.

"... she's with me." is all Shepard stated.

"Private matters?"

"Private matters."

The officer understood, and bowed her head in defeat at the woman's use of power to save her friend's skin.

A bold move, but the officer had other things to worry about, so she let it slide and instead focused on calling out enough people to clean up the whole market before sunset.

* * *

"Was it true what you said, are you a Spectre of the council?" spouted Tali, her gaze fixated on Shepard who was just crouching in front of her now once more.

"I just got the rank this morning." specified Shepard in return, offering a helping hand to Tali who was now holding her weight against the wall.

"That's... insane." Tali looked down, unable to wrap her head around how crazy her day had become from the moment she met Shepard.

Taking her aiding hand, Tali was soon back on her feet, her posture showing off more confidence than when she had woke up that morning.

"...Alright, I had already planned to do it, but you're a Spectre, so it has also become my duty to tell you of my research."

Though her mind was full of resolution, Tali still struggled over the chance of being ridiculed, just like in the embassies of before.

"I'm listening."

"See, the reason why I was so desperate to come here was to—" but just as she was about to spout the truth, the beeping on Shepard's omni-tool interrupted her speech.

"Shepard, we got word about the quarian we're looking for. Name's Tali."

"... thank you, Joker." responded Shepard as she tried to keep a composed face at the truly awkward timing of the events.

"So... it would seem you are the quarian I've been looking for..."

Not knowing what her words meant, Tali remained quiet, watching Shepard that kept her eyes on her omni-tool for a while longer, before directing her attention back to the quarian. "Can you walk?"

"Huh? Y-Yeah. My legs are still a bit numb but it's nothing to worry about."

"Good." Shepard nodded along with her response.

"Joker, inform the crew there will be a few adjustments done to the ship. I'll send you the info right now."

"Aye, Commander."

Shepard then caught, through the corner of her eye, Tali's knees bending to the side. Watching her collapse, Shepard didn't take any chances and quickly jumped to her aid, holding her body from the hips.

"Easy, there..." Shepard brought her to eye-level and, unknowingly, never letting go of her hips. "… before we do anything, you need to gather your strength. Besides, I think it would be best if you tell your story to the council first, Tali. They're going to want to hear this."

* * *

Tali had to reprocess what Shepard had told her to truly comprehend it.

Already finishing her ride on the elevator that led to the council, Tali was surprised the security teams at Citadel tower didn't search her before and after she arrived to the top floor

She assumed the reason for this special treatment was the over the top group of people that was accompanying her.

Admiral Anderson, a well-respected man among the military, not only between humans but over the Citadel itself.

Ambassador Udina, a man in pursuit of putting humanity alongside with the council of the Citadel.

Garrus Vakarian, a C-Sec officer tired of restrictions in his hunt for Saren and any evidence against him.

Wrex; a solo bounty hunter who just happened to cross Shepard's path, just like her.

And last but not least, the Spectre Jane Shepard, who had vouched for her and the evidence she carried against the skepticism of both Anderson and Udina.

One curious thing she noticed from all of them though was how nobody actually called her by name, and rather, it seemed to be almost a custom to call her Shepard, or Commander.

* * *

The gates to the council finally opened, and Tali was soon overwhelmed with the pressure she just on her own shoulders.

She was about to have the one meeting she could have only dreamed of until now, and it was all said and done simply because Shepard told them so. The expectations were heavy, and Tali prayed to her ancestors the evidence she had in her possession would be enough.

"So, this is the quarian you were talking about. Tell us, Spectre, have you confirmed her intel?" asked Valern, the salarian councilor, as the Shepard's group reached the hearing platform.

Giving off a cocky smirk, Shepard rested her weight on one hip, crossing her arms together. "I thought it would be best to find that out along with you."

Unconvinced at first, the councilors looked at one another and nod, all coming to the agreement of hearing the quarian out if Shepard was so confident about it.

Now that she was a Spectre, her word held weight on the situation.

"Very well, we'll hear what she has to say. Step forward, young quarian." ordered Tevos, the asari.

Knowing better than making the council wait, Shepard, along with the rest of her group, took a few steps away from Tali as to allow the hearing platform to extend beneath her feet, leading her closer to the gaze of the councilors.

"You currently stand at the presence of the council; it would be wise you didn't attempt to hide anything from us. Are you ready to make your statement?" spoke Quentius plainly, his cold stare rivaling asari commandos despite his turian origins.

Nearly choking with her own saliva, Tali swallowed strongly before even daring to speak.

"… I am ready."

"We'll now begin the trial." spoke Tevos before opening a visual channel, linking the entire room with Saren.

At Tali's surprise, his hologram was four to five times taller than she would have expected and it was clearly done with the purpose of allowing the accused to look down on those against him.

"Who is this?" asked Saren, clearly annoyed to see his time wasted for a quarian who seemed about to faint from the pressure.

Saren was about to call off the meeting, when at the corner of his screen he recognized Shepard, standing will with her eyes raised in her usual skepticism as they made eye-contact with one another.

"Oh? I should have known you wouldn't stop pestering me. So, tell me, Commander Shepard, how much exactly did you spend in this farce?"

"Saren, you will only direct yourself to the quarian now in front of you. Shepard has recused herself from taking part on this trial." said Quentius, stating the facts with a loud, authoritative voice.

Quickly giving up, Saren looked at Shepard one last time before returning his gaze on the quarian now standing at the hearing platform.

"Very well, let us get this over with. Show us this supposed evidence you have against me."

Before Tali could begin however, Valern's calm voice filled the room. "State your name and businesses first, young quarian. For the record."

Now, fully understanding this hearing was real, and the pressure and nauseating feeling in her stomach was genuine, Tali had to look back at the group who, not only expecting her to succeed, but also shared the same goal as she.

Her eyes fell, mostly, on Shepard who was at the center of them.

Though she tried to make it quick, Shepard's gentle smile made her stare for a few seconds longer before turning her head again to the council.

Surprisingly, the nausea was gone now, but the nervousness of her body was still very present.

After a small pause, Tali finally stated her business as clear as the helmet's speaker allowed her to.

"M-My name... is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, I'm a young quarian that was fulfilling her pilgrimage, and I've brought information that will prove Saren as a traitor to the council."

The council, Saren, and the group behind them remained quiet. Tali took it as a sign to continue.

* * *

Though she gave a vibe of confidence, Shepard in reality was nervous just as well. Already could she picture how the council would nag at her if the evidence didn't turn out to be enough to find Saren guilty of treason, but seeing how desperate Tali was to have this hearing, she didn't want to pass on this uneasy sensation to the quarian as she was now making her case.

She was doing well so far, telling her story; Tali had found a group of geth in an ice world with no name, she waited for one of them to separate from the rest and then removed its memory core. Though not much was salvaged, the footage she now had in her possession was one of the things she had managed to save.

Just as she finished telling her story, Tali paused for a moment to decode the message on the omni-tool, and played it on the speaker for everyone in the room to listen.

 _"Good, Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit..."_ so spoke Saren's voice in the recording, though with considerable static.

"And then I have this piece..." stated Tali as she switched recordings.

 _"Indeed, we—to think—we will soon—one step closer to—return of the Reapers—"_ so spoke the voice of an unknown, but clearly powerful woman.

It was after hearing the last word that Shepard quickly took her head on her hands, and clawed her into her eye sockets. A wild, excruciating pain seemed to invade her brain, as the visions of Eden Prime seemed to play again in her head, her body entering a state where she could not even make a sound.

The pain only seemed to further intensify as the visions progressed, bringing her to her knees.

It immediately stopped then, before Tali and the Council could turn their gaze towards what was happening in the back, only managing to see how Shepard slowly stood back on her feet.

"You alright, Shepard?" asked Anderson as he held her tightly from the shoulders, giving her balancing support until she regained her full strength.

Shepard did not say anything, but instead shook her head as her eyes remained down on the floor, with one part of the vision sticking out from the rest.

Machinery.

* * *

"Saren, what is the meaning of this?" spoke the turian councilor out loud in clear annoyance.

"It's a farce; obviously this quarian is trying to frame me for Shepard's own—"

"Don't lie to me, Arterius! No one can make evidence that convincing in such a short amount of time. Explain yourself!" now furious, Quentius went as far as calling Saren by his last name.

Saren remained quiet, and closed his eyes. He fixed his posture which he had lost as he listened to his own voice in the recording, and took a few seconds before he opened his eyes again, now as empty as the void itself.

"... to think you would find such a compelling evidence, I must congratulate you, little girl. You've angered me the same way only Commander Shepard has managed to do so far."

The tone in his voice was full of killing intent, freezing Tali on the spot as she could nearly feel a gun pointing down to her head. But, rather than letting this fear to consume her, she quickly snapped out of her instincts, and allowed her mouth to run wild for the first time in her life.

"I—I do not fear you, Saren! You are a traitor to everything the council stood for, and you are also responsible for many attacks against the flotilla. You had it coming!"

Saren, unmoved by her accusations, simply nodded in acknowledgment of her words. "So be it, if you think you have even a slight chance against me, then feel free to enact your revenge. But for today, I'm done with you lot."

"Saren, if you leave now you'll be—" so declared Tevos, but Saren did not even allow her to finish, and closed his visual com without spouting another word.

As his hologram vanished, Tali placed her hands on the borders of the hearing platforms, breathing heavily as if she had held it from the start.

Rapidly trotting to her, Shepard stood next to her as soon as the platform withdrew itself, a signal the council was done listening to her accusations.

"You okay, Tali?"

Though she was panting like crazy, Tali's face was filled with a wide smile at the odd sensation of satisfaction, though again, this was not visible for Shepard's eyes. "… That was... terrifying. Can't believe I just said that to a Spectre."

"Do not think he'll remain as one of them for long." so said Quentius as he tweaked around with his omni-tool. "We will immediately strip Saren of his rights as Spectre and declare him a running fugitive. This is a major blow to what Spectre's hold up, but this will also bring a fresh start to what we, the council, come to expect from the people who hold this title."

"We've long since noticed Saren's behavior as irrational, chaotic. Spectres are tools to end conflicts and spare innocent people from further bloodshed, not entice it, embrace it. The Council thanks you for your great efforts today, Commander Shepard, and you, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

Perhaps it was how Tevos excelled at politics and the means of speech, but the way she said her name made Tali feel extremely important.

Anderson then approached the Council, and bowed his head before speaking straightforwardly.

"If I may, councilors; I would like to propose we send the Normandy to hunt down Saren. She is the best ship, much more capable than any other in the entire galaxy."

Looking at one another again, Valern saw no flaw in the proposition, and spoke on behalf of his fellow councilors after coming to an agreement. "What say you, Spectre Jane? Is your team and ship up to the task?"

Shepard saluted in respect, as excitement seemed to ooze from her very being.

"Preparations are already on their way, but the ship will only be able to leave the Citadel in about four days. It's scheduled to some modifications."

"This will be a long journey; don't think we want you to finish Saren at the cost of your own life, Spectre. Take the time you need to prepare yourself and your team." so declared Quentius as he finished using his omni-tool.

"I appreciate it. Now, if you'll excuse me councilors, I still have a few things to take care of before we depart."

And just like that, Shepard turned to leave the room along with Garrus and Wrex, leaving Anderson and Udina to deal over the details.

* * *

She did not have to turn around to know Shepard was already on her way out without even saying goodbye.

But perhaps this was how it was meant to be, it was Shepard's task now to hunt Saren with the approval of the Council, Tali's business was solely to pass on her findings to them.

Clearly saddened, Tali kept her head down as she shuffled her fingers arounds. Tevos took notice of her odd behavior, and quickly spoke to her while the rest of the councilors cleared the room.

"What seems to be the hold up, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya?"

Caught by surprise, Tali looked up to the asari councilor in confusion. "… Excuse me?"

Tevos, knowing clearly what the quarian was thinking, stated her thoughts the simplest way she could come up with. "You _are_ part of Jane's team, are you not?"

Now dumbfound by her words, Tali turned her head around, only to find Shepard, Garrus and Wrex still waiting by the door.

Not knowing what to say or even how to react, Tali looked back at the Councilor and bowed her thanks.

"… councilor."

That was all she managed to say without shouting from the enthusiasm that was now filling up her body, then casually ran past Udina and Anderson, who were perplexed over her lack of any formal gesture.


	5. II - V

Meeting the council was not something you did on a whim; you needed an appointment, and a damn good reason to steal even a few minutes of their time. This is what Tali had learned from her earlier attempts to enter Citadel Tower.

Nevertheless, as if with the wave of her hand like it would be all it was going to take; Shepard managed to not only make a meeting with the council, a reality, but also bring Tali's findings to their ears as swiftly as possible. In such a small span of time, Tali had gone from a poor, runaway quarian to a commendable hero who had brought Saren's involvement in the events of Eden Prime, to the light.

Now, she was part of a Spectre's team that solely responded to the direct orders of the council, or at least she was about to be.

Suffice to say this put her at the pinnacle of military power along with the rest who served under Shepard's name, and it was a very awkward position at that.

However, she had bigger problems than living up to humongous expectations; nothing compared to telling her father and the flotilla she was going to put her pilgrimage on hold to set out and save the galaxy instead.

It was not a matter for debate either. Four days had already passed since she last saw both Shepard and the council, and almost all preparations were now complete according to the message sent to her omni-tool.

 _Tali._

 _Tomorrow at 0500 hours, you are to report to the Normandy's private docks. After we have set our course, it would be proper that we introduced you to the crew as you lot will be one of the first non-human members of our group since Nihlus._

 _I don't think I have to point out you'll have to carry your own weight while in the Normandy, to truly have the respect of its crew._

 _I am looking forward to working with you._

 _\- Shepard_

The message was sent just before midnight as a _reminder_ ; three hours had passed since then, and she still had not slept a wink.

Although her suit didn't sustain any severe damage in her last confrontation at first, Tali soon noticed the irregular static coming from the back of her helmet, plus the erratic behavior of her visor plate interface getting worse with each passing day.

If her ancestors were willing, Tali's suit would only last one more month before it broke to pieces.

And, despite having the time to, Tali didn't have the space nor the equipment to work on any meaningful repairs. Having stayed in a hotel room, which surprisingly enough, had food compatible with her race, Tali was told to not disrobe or cause any damage to the company's private property, as quarians capable to afford their chambers were a bigger rarity than the food itself.

The quality of the place was perhaps top-notch, according to the hotel's receptionist, but Tali could not tell whether the bed was soft, or whether the ambiance was tranquil with her suit always standing in between the two.

Even repairs were hard to do without an isolated environment, as some places of her body were simply impossible to reach without taking the suit off.

Keeping that in mind, she had to make do with what she had and started repairs on her suit until just about 0400 when, one of the hotel's personal who had brought a package from an unknown source, interrupted her.

The assistant was also there to remind her she to vacate the room within the following hour.

The package she was given, was enveloped in an unknown brown paper Tali had never seen before, and its triangular form only made her all the more curious for what it contained.

Unwrapping it was easy; the paper tore at the tip of her fingers as soon as she placed it on top of the bed. Perhaps it was because she was too used to carry heavy things back in the flotilla, that she had not realized how heavy the package was until it showed how it mildly sunk into the bed sheets.

It was a metallic black suitcase, with the Migrant Fleet's symbol at the front, and from the looks of it, it was far too expensive to be given by mistake or by the flotilla itself.

Cautiously now, Tali took the suitcase in her hands and turned it around to find more information about who had sent it or what it contained, but found no information of the sort. With little choice left, she attempted to open, and when she did, her face filled with both excitement and nervousness.

It was a quarian suit.

Now understanding why it was airtight sealed in the first place, Tali closed the case immediately, hoping the air around her was clean enough. Although it was different, from what she had experienced when she was but a child, Tali was positive about something; to wear the suit, let alone take a suit from its case, would require a quarantined room.

She mumbled under her breath curses for being so careless, and decided to finish patching up her suit instead, until her time was over at the hotel.

But before she made her way out of her room, with suitcase in hand, she noticed a note stuck at the corner of the door frame. Trying to read it was pointless, her omni-tool was not equipped to translate written paper so she could not tell what it said except for one word at the center.

"... Shepard..."

* * *

Passing through the first security check, to even get near the Normandy's private docks, felt like a breeze. Thinking the same would go for the second and third security stop though, made the whole thing a tiresome. Bu, be that as it may, Tali had to take formalities seriously and register anew as one of the new crewmembers under a Spectre command.

At least she was not the only one.

Garrus seemed to be quite used to the military formalities, if anything he was the one who insisted on them. Wrex on the other hand, looked like he would fall asleep while on his feet.

Eventually, all three checked out, and once the doors to the dock opened and the scenery displayed the full scale of the ship that would be their home from now on, even Wrex could not help but to stare in awe with its size and architecture, though Tali was sure she was the only one contemplating the latter.

"I guess you guys haven't heard about the fly that ends down your throat if you drop your jaw for too long?" so mockingly advised a woman from behind their backs, making all but Wrex turn their heads to her in confusion and slight annoyance.

"And who are you?" asked Garrus almost aggressively, crossing his arms together.

"Name's Ashley, but you can call me _chief_ or _ma'am_."

Garrus could not believe her. Rather, she dressed too casually to even be part of such an elite crew.

But just as he was about to respond to her declaration, he took notice of a second woman just a few steps behind wearing what he could only picture to be human sports leggings and a hooded black sweater with the words _N7_ , branded on the chest.

"Chill out, Williams, you'll scare the newcomers, and two of them still owe me a drink." blurted the woman sarcastically. Her voice the only thing the trio of aliens needed to know who she was.

Garrus stood straight up and saluted almost too eagerly as soon as Shepard showed off her sweaty face under the hood. It did not take long before his eyes fell lower to the surprisingly thin waist she proudly seemed to show off.

And unbeknownst to him, he was not the only one looking at her figure.

Tali was nearly breathless at the sight of her, her heart was at the back of her throat, threatening to burst out if she kept looking at Shepard who casually continued to speak to the self-proclaimed chief.

"... I'm just trying to keep appearances, Skipper. Not all of us have a fancy new title to greet the crew with." reproached Williams with a dramatic pout on her cheeks.

"I'm surprised, I didn't think you'd be the jealous type." joked Shepard out in the open, showing a clear, sly grin in her face.

"You did not just say that."

Shepard closed the distance between them and placed a hand over William's shoulder, patting it with the same dramatism as her pout, knowing well they could argue for hours about who was humanity's favorite space diva.

"The three of you, follow me." Shepard yelled all the sudden. Surprised by her tone of her voice, all three aliens flinched and nodded as Shepard quietly made her way to the Normandy, with _chief_ Williams always at her side rather than following from behind.

"Well... this will be interesting. Shall we?" added Garrus under his breath so as to keep his comment to the _alien_ group before taking the lead.

Tali let out a sigh, shaking her head so as to not overthink the way Shepard stared at her, them. "... let's go, Wrex."


	6. II - VI

**_* Folsom Prison Blues._**

* * *

At the Normandy, the amount of human faces glaring at the aliens now making their way around the hallway was staggering to say the least. As it was built by two races, one would easily expect at least a turian or two aboard the ship, yet most of the crew stared at Garrus in awe as if they'd never seen one of his kind before, some even broke into tears.

There would be time for mixed racial relationships later though.

"Joker, are we ready for takeoff?" wondered Shepard with a loud and clear voice.

"Aye, just double checking the system, god only knows when will be the next time we touch the Citadel again. Come by to the bridge so we better speak about our next set of course."

It wasn't easy to follow up behind her again, it was a though Shepard had become a completely different person from what Tali had learned about.

* * *

"Hey Commander—No, wait, it's Spectre now, damn it! I can tell you already, that's gonna be something to get used to." Joker argued in an attempt to sound formal and direct, yet failing to do so, miserably.

Shepard shook her head, closing her eyes for a moment before giving an answer of her own. "It's alright, Joker, the crew doesn't need to treat me any different just because I outrank Anderson now."

"Well, shit. I won't say no to that." shrugged Joker in relief. "I'll let the rest of the crew know about it in a moment then. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's all mixed up about formalities."

"Before you do that, I want you to know some people before everyone else. They'll be in charge with part of the ship's functions now."

With a wave of her hand, Shepard signaled for one of the crew to open the gate she was leaning on just a short while ago.

"Great, not only you get a new title, now you're depriving me of my duties as the sole badass pilot and true leader of—" Joker stopped his rant for a second, clearly taken back by the turian and the quarian making their way next to Shepard.

"... Oh!"

"Joker, meet Garrus and Tali." so introduced Shepard, each one nodding as their names were shared to the pilot with the funny hat.

"Commander, are you serious?" laughed Joker as he kept changing his gaze from alien to alien, drawing a wild, nearly maniacal smile in his face.

"Why don't you find out yourself? I'll let them introduce themselves."

* * *

"As per her request, Spectre Shepard can still be addressed as Commander Shepard. Just, forget the whole Spectre thing ever happened and keep treating her like the same charismatic heroine of old. Joker out."

There was a loud laugh shared by the entire crew, as well as many heads shaking in disbelief, one of those heads was Kaidan.

"Still can't believe you let him get away with it."

Shepard rolled her eyes as she directed her attention to the gathered group around the the CiC room.

Knowing _her_ crew like the palm of her hand, Shepard wanted them to remain cheerful for the rest of the day, even at the cost of the respect the title Spectre carried.

"Everyone, go to your rooms and settle in again, if you must. Briefing will not happen until 0900. There, we'll make full introductions of the new crew members." informed Shepard as she pointed to a hidden back room in the level.

"Already a step ahead of you, Skipper." bragged Williams as she closed in behind Shepard, giving her ribs a tight squeeze.

Visibly shivering, Shepard only managed to turn herself around after Williams had both let go and created some distance between them.

"... Ohohohoh, now you're in for it."

Smiling, Shepard seemed to immediately reverse to a more calm version of herself as she followed Williams around the lower levels of the ship, leaving the people at the CiC in total confusion.

Tali was the first to shatter the silent atmosphere in half. "... Are they usually this close?"

Nearly everyone who'd witnessed the intimacy between Williams and Shepard directed their eyes to Kaidan, who seemed to be the only one not all that impressed with what they just witnessed.

Letting his head hang in tiredness, Kaidan then responded with a shrug. "... let's just say had things been any different they would have been twin sisters. I'll see you again at the briefing, everyone."

And just like that, he saluted the new aliens and left to the ship's main quarters.

None but Tali then jumped of the surprise as a loud cackle echoed from the lower levels, followed by the meager attempts of a breathless Williams, begging for mercy.

Garrus didn't understand it, or maybe he didn't want to wrap his head around it just yet. Wrex hadn't changed his expression since he entered the Normandy, not that one can easily tell when a Krogan is angry or amused by something, or someone.

And it was he who first walked away from the circle they had made and followed behind Kaidan, leaving Garrus and Tali on their own.

"Well, this should be interesting. We haven't formally introduced ourselves, I'm Garrus Vakarian."

"... a-and I'm Tali, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."

* * *

Garrus made it look easy to be honest, to close in and talk to people, to laugh and greet as though he had always been part of the crew. Wrex was somewhat different in his approach to know them, as most of the time he seemed to look at the place as though it was a horrendous maze, and always ended up following someone else to find his way around. That was his way of approach, in a sense.

Tali was, for a change, was approached by the curious. Apparently a krogan is common compared to a quarian, and soon enough she had to formally introduce herself to the sixty-three people aboard the Normandy, excluding Shepard, Williams, Alenko and Joker.

Sixty-three.

That was nerve-wrecking topic on its own, it was only the fourth day since the ship took off from the Citadel and already was she thinking something was wrong with the ship, yet nothing was. Quite the contrary, since the first hour she entered the engineer room it was as though she would need all of her current skills to even understand half of what made the ship roar.

Many of the ship's components were things she was used to work in three to five times their present size.

It was truly a marvelous ship, and that scared her because there was not a single sound around the hallway.

That was but the first reason she could hardly sleep, the second reason was the clumsy, if not hurried work of the quarantine room she was currently residing in.

She was happy with it, even if its main function wasn't finished before their departure. With some spare time and the right tools she could finish what seemed to be a room of her own.

But this wasn't enough to help her fall asleep immediately, much less soundly.

One last trouble was keeping her awake, and that was the suit just at the entrance of her place.

She knew she had to find the way to wear it before their next mission, but she wasn't ready to leave behind the only thing she had left from the flotilla, not to mention the specifications of the new suit were nowhere to be seen and she'd been warned before the pilgrimage to never trust the empty words of the vendors.

Not wanting to ponder any further in things she wasn't ready to do or get used to, Tali made her way out of her chambers, then lost herself in thought until her helmet picked up a song echoing through the ship's hallway*.

Instinctively, Tali followed the source to the top floor, with her head wobbling at the beat of the song, until her eyes landed on the figure of a woman waltzing around the CiC's map with a tired pace.

The feeling she was intruding forced her to turn around and try to go back to her quarters, but just as she attempted to turn around her steps, she only had the time to take a small glance at the woman now approaching through the same path, causing her to panic hide in the shadowed hallway that led to the meeting room.

* * *

Breathing out her mental exhaustion, Chakwas shut the gate behind her and took a moment so as to compose the most sensible smile she could muster, before approaching the woman currently wrecking her head over the galaxy map.

"You know Shepard, when I first promised your mother I'd take care of you I didn't think I'd need to tell you to go to sleep for a change." started Chakwas as she lowered the volume of the song playing around the CiC room.

"Someone has to set up these mine drones." responded Shepard with sass. "... our funds will only last us for so long, and I already went over the budget after purchasing a few upgrades."

"You are one terrible liar." Chakwas then closes the gap between them, standing in the way of the Commander.

Despite her eyes never leaved the electronic device currently in her hand, in reality Shepard was feeling a strange sense of comfort from being casually scolded by one of her oldest friends. Chakwas knew what she was talking about, very frequently she could tell the health of one of the crewmembers without even having to examinate them, and in this case the bags under Shepard's eyes were a clear sign she hadn't been sleeping all that well, if anything at all.

And as if the doctor had read her mind, she pulled two glass cups from her back, along with a fine bottle of brandy. This finally made Shepard turn her eyes to her old friend.

"You didn't, Doc..." murmured Shepard in disbelief as the Brandy itself was not only expensive, but rare.

"Who says one of them is for you Shepard?" spouted Chakwas sarcastically as she pulled two chairs from a nearby control panel and left her body to fall on one before popping the bottle with her hand. "I'm celebrating today, but I won't do it while these god awful lights are on my sight."

As if their roles had reversed, Shepard practically shut down the galaxy map with a kick to the plug, dimming the lights around the room so as to make the environment feel more intimate, closer to what Chakwas was more used to when in need of some alone time.

"There... would that be all, Karin?" spoke Shepard with mockery and a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, Shepard... you and your mother may be the only ones I allow calling me by that name. Even my old CO had to be careful around me." so was Chakwas's response as she poured the drinks and shared a glass with Shepard just as she too sat on the chair in front of her.

And for a moment, as the two took a sip and enjoyed the intense flavor and overpowering smell of the drink, the atmosphere around the ship changed as if they were the only people on board. Just the type of silence both of them needed to catch their breath.

It was only after a few minutes that Chakwas broke the silence by placing the empty cup on the main control panel. "But you know, Shepard? I wasn't joking about what I said earlier..."

"... You may have built perhaps one of the most advanced rooms in the ship but you'll need to add better equipment to the med bay if you want me to ever treat her injuries."

Knowing precisely what she was talking about, Shepard's eyes fell to the floor as she pondered what to say, however she couldn't think of anything beyond the obvious.

"... I'll see what I can do."

Chakwas gave up, she realized such a subtle approach to the situation would do neither of them good, so she did as any grown woman would do to make a youngling speak, and poured a second shot of brandy for the two of them.

"Now, let us be quiet now and drop all formalities, Jane..." Chakwas whispered as she bent her body closer and keep things as private as possible.

"Alright, I'm game, though you better watch out what you're about to say. Joker isn't exactly one for keeping his big ears to himself."

Both broke out in a silly giggle, Chakwas took a big sip of alcohol before daring to speak her thoughts out loud and without restraint.

"... Do you like quarians?"

Shepard reacted like a teen would after her mother figured out who her crush was, and her way to cement Chakwa's assumption was by spitting out the brandy and coughing for some good long minutes as her face turned red of both the embarrassment and the absurd accident.

Chakwas had to give her a moment, and deep at the back of her head she was genuinely enjoying the sight of a Shepard caught off her guard, this time however she would keep that thought to herself.

"... where did that come from?" Shepard finally broke out as she cleaned both the alcohol and the drool from her face. "You rarely ask about my personal life, not that you don't know most of it anyway."

Shepard was so desperately trying to compose her voice she forgot completely about being discreet by this point, her voice echoing around the CiC.

Chakwas then, did the same as she continued to make her case. "Call it a woman's intuition... Honestly Shepard, first you save the poor girl's life, then you give her the opportunity to be part of something remarkable that would prove her worth not only to her race but to the entire galaxy... only to shove her at engineering and never drop by to see how she's doing."

Then, they remained silent. Shepard didn't know how to answer this time, just thinking on how to try to express the genuine sense of relief whenever Tali was ever nearby...

"Actually, it's not that she hasn't tried to approach the engineering room, she just doesn't know what to talk about."so blurted Joker through the room's comm channel.

"... thank you, Joker." spoke Shepard with a menacing voice as she looked at the nearest camera in the room.

"Any time, Commander."

Just like that, the truth was out for at least two people, not the fact that she was actually in love with Tali as she'd barely even talked to her, but rather her wild and genuine interest for her.

Shepard was about to voice out her own version of the story, when a private message arrived to her omni-tool, forcing her to shut her heart back into the case where it belongs when in duty, and quickly raise from the chair and make way to the meeting room. "I should go, Anderson wants to see me."

"Jane."

Shepard stopped for a moment to listen what she had to say, her back now against Chakwas.

"Under the hood there's a lonely, scared quarian in an unknown territory, be sure to take responsibility for what you've done."

"... thank you for the drink doctor, we should do it again."

* * *

 ** _This is more of a hurried work, I actually had more chapters finished and planned to put it all out in one big compilation, but after upgrading my computer some of my files got erased, including the story._**

 ** _And yes, from where I stand I can actually picture Shepard liking classical/old-school music more than the modern music of everyday Mass Effect. A reason why she sucks at dancing them, maybe?_**


End file.
